WATER
CRISIS IN SOUTH AFRICA
One
Year Ago and Today – Photographic Comparison
WATER’S JOURNEY – FROM SOURCE TO RIVERS AND DAMS –
THERE IS A REDUCED SUPPLY - IN SOME CASES INSTEAD OF A CASCADING WATERFALL, A MERE TRICKLE OF SOURCE RAIN WATER!
WATER’S JOURNEY - WATER USAGE ABUSE - WHILE SOUTH AFRICA DRIES UP TO DISASTER GOLF ESTATES ARE PRIME CULPRITS EVEN DURING WATER RESTRICTIONS
How Parched
SA Can Win Back Water Security
Business Day Article by Tom Nevin, November 23 2015
Free State dams such as Krugersdrift are reaching critically low levels
and are unable to supply farms desperate for water. Hundreds of fish have
washed up dead on their banks. Picture: JULIAN RADEMEYER
THE THREAT TO SA’S SUPPLY OF CLEAN WATER, NOW
REACHING ALARMING PROPORTIONS,
This is largely of the country’s own making. Cycles
of hot, dry weather are a regular climate phenomenon, yet the authorities do
not learn from history and prepare in advance, critics say.
"For those who listen, the past always has a
way of returning," says Prof Bhekisipho Twala, head of the department of
electrical and electronic engineering science at the University of
Johannesburg.
WE ARE NOT WELL PREPARED TO DEAL WITH INEVITABLE DROUGHT CONDITIONS - LIGHT RAIN SHOWERS MISLEAD CITY DWELLERS INTO COMPLACENCY
"We are in trouble not only because the
weather is capricious, but because we are not prepared to deal with the
inevitable.
We never seem to learn that cycles are so called because they
repeat themselves"
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
spokeswoman Reyhana Mahomed says its researchers, the South African Weather
Service and several universities are conducting research into the mechanisms
and consequences of climate dynamics.
She said the research aimed to "develop the
tools and improve the models" to more accurately understand and project
climate and various atmospheric interactions.
Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane
said earlier this month that the bulk of SA’s economic nodes and national
growth points were served by 238 water schemes and most of the systems had a
positive water balance, with the national average dam storage at 66% of
capacity.
THE drought gripping parts of the country affects
173 of the 1,628 water supply schemes, serving about 18% of the population.
Mokonyane says her department had monitored weather
patterns and after hearing predictions of low rainfall this summer, took
measures to alleviate them after completing a three-year outlook. In Gauteng,
for example, water was released from Sterkfontein Dam to the Vaal Dam to create
storage in the Sterkfontein Dam, which was filled with water pumped from the
Tugela River.
WARNINGS
ABOUT WATER SCARCITY WERE AIRED BY MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS MCKINSEY OVER 6
YEARS AGO
"SA will face difficult economic and
social choices between the demands for water for agriculture, key industrial
activities such as mining and power generation, and large and growing urban
centres," the 2010 report warned, saying that solutions were possible and
did not need to be prohibitively expensive.
"Critically, it is clear the government
and private sector must partner to develop effective policies and sustainable
solutions," wrote Marc van Olst, a former partner in McKinsey’s
Johannesburg office and one of the authors of the study, Confronting SA’s Water
Challenge.The solutions include technical improvements to increase clean water supply and conservation, along with improvements in productivity and efficiency.
Most water economists and analysts agree that if SA is ever to be ready to deal with cyclical droughts, it must act rapidly to implement a balanced solution for closing its demand-supply gap.
This can be achieved by applying a range of cost-effective supply measures such as agricultural efficiency and productivity improvements aggressively.
MCKINSEY’S EXPERTS BELIEVE THAT SUCH OUTCOMES CAN BE LED ONLY BY THE GOVERNMENT, AND MOST EFFECTIVELY IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE PRIVATE SECTOR
“Most
importantly, the failing water infrastructure must be upgraded and maintained”
The government is chiefly to blame for the
current crisis through its lack of leadership, will and responsibility. It has
allowed SA’s access to clean water to deteriorate. It spent good money to
identify the problems and then did nothing about them.
"Simply expressed, we need to store more
clean water, but the government is squeezed for money and skills to build new
dams. This country also does not lend itself to too many more new big dam
builds. It is nearing dam saturation, so to speak," says senior engineer
Peter Townshend, consultant to WSP/Parsons Brinckerhoff and director of Amanzi
Flow.Townshend maintains that the water supply can be increased by 20% to 30% by upgrading dams. He advocates a multi-layered repair and restructure programme.
"When dams are repaired or undergo major maintenance, they could be upgraded to increase storage capacity. This is easier and more convenient than it might sound," he says.
"Some
dams could also be fitted with desedimentation systems to greatly improve
capacity and operational performance."
TOWNSHEND points out that, of SA’s 5 x 120
registered dams, at least 1,000 in the medium to large category do not comply
fully with dam-safety regulations — mainly due to inadequate spillway capacity,
age, lack of skilled surveillance, maintenance and funding.
"There’s a possibility that SA could lose large dams in the event of a big flood. Most have a 50-year sell-by date. Some have already passed (this)," he warns.
One government solution to the water crisis is to import engineers from Cuba, a move Townshend does not believe is necessary. "We have an oversupply of engineers."
Townshend says raising the height of dam walls, for example, could add an additional 20%-25% capacity. "More attention should be given and more money spent on significantly increasing education around efficient water care."
"This includes its best use — recycling, rainwater harvesting and surplus water storage tanks should be basic features in reconstruction and development programmes and other affordable housing.
"Additionally, money must be expended on repairing and replacing aged piping and poorly maintained reticulation systems, where as much as 40% of water loss in municipal areas is occurring," Townshend says.
A MAJOR CHANGE IN RAINFALL PATTERN IS ENTRENCHING, WITH MORE RAIN FALLING IN THE EASTERN HALF OF THE COUNTRY AND LESS IN THE WEST
Eventually,
water will have to be transferred from wetter to drier regions through a series
of waterways, at a considerable cost.
Consideration has also been given to tapping
into the Congo and Zambezi rivers to divert water to the south via river
systems, canals and pipelines."This is currently too expensive and has political uncertainties to overcome, but it could become a reality through sheer necessity and fewer options," Townshend says.
Desalination projects are another possibility, but require massive amounts of funding and electricity consumption, "both of which are at a premium and will probably stay that way for many years to come".
